Smooth Operator
by Mako Headrush
Summary: Reno barely hides his crush on Cloud as he prepares to summon the hero to Healin Lodge in an attempt to get him to join Shinra. Alternate take on the well-known scene from AC where Reno and Cloud clash. Rated T for now because of Reno's foul language. Likely to be a two-shot, eventual Reno/Cloud pairing. Yaoi.


**Summary: Reno barely hides his crush on Cloud as he prepares to summon the hero to Healin Lodge in an attempt to get him to join Shinra. Alternate take on the well-known scene from AC where Reno and Cloud clash.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, wish I did. This is written for fun and not profit. **

* * *

"Reno! Hurry up!" Rude's voice was clipped and irritable as he pounded upon the door to their shared bathroom. The two partners shared a condo in one of the newly redeveloped parts of Edge, and Rude was quickly coming to realize the shortcomings of having to share a bathroom with Reno, who appeared to have no concept of time when getting himself ready in the morning.

It was not as if Rude took terribly long himself; a shower, a shave, a splash of musky aftershave, and he would be ready to go. Reno, with his mop of hair that vacillated wildly between bedhead and cutting-edge stylish, took significantly longer to get ready. Still, Rude thought, glancing at the clock with a grunt of disgust, Reno had been in there excessively long already. Even considering the fact that it was Reno, after all, who was about the furthest one could get from being described as a 'morning person.'

Rude heard the tumblers in the lock shift as Reno unlocked the door and let it fall open. Reno's skinny frame was clad only in a bath towel that was wrapped tightly around his waist; his long hair, still wet from the shower, stuck to his back, chest and shoulders in scarlet rivulets. He looked like an underfed, wet cat, and Rude couldn't help but smirk a bit despite his irritation.

"Sorry, Rude," Reno said apologetically, squinting into the fogged up mirror, hands clenching the sides of the bathroom vanity. "I just want my hair to look good today, ya know?" He paused, lifting an arm, and took a deep sniff of his armpit. "Need more deodorant," Reno muttered, appearing oddly nervous as he reached for his anti-perspirant from inside the cabinet.

Raising an eyebrow, Rude regarded his partner curiously. "Reno...what's up? I mean, you're usually slow as shit in the morning on a good day, but never this slow. Hurry it up, I still need to shower," he reminded him.

"Look, maybe I just wanna look nice, okay?" Reno snapped, and then sighed, shaking his head. "Sorry, Rude. Didn't mean to bite your head off. Hey, I'm just gonna blow dry, feel free to jump in the shower whenever ya want. I won't look," he added, snickering.

Rude coughed quietly. "No. I'd like a little more privacy. Just hurry up what you're doing, so I can have my damned shower."

"Tch!" Reno clucked. "Touch-y! _Fine_, Mr. Crabby Pants. Go have a fuckin' cup of coffee or something, and I'll be out in a minute. Maybe it'll improve your mood."

"Fuck you," Rude replied calmly, extending his middle finger at Reno as he walked away. Reno cackled, and then shut the door. The sound of the hairdryer was soon heard from behind the door, as Rude took Reno's suggestion and headed out into the kitchen for a cup of coffee. He muttered to himself as he sipped the bitter, life-giving black liquid. Instantly he felt a bit better, less annoyed. Perhaps Reno was right; he did need some coffee to soothe his frazzled nerves. Rude snorted at the irony of that thought. Wasn't coffee supposed to make one jittery, and wired? It had rather the opposite effect in Rude.

He drained the mug and set it in the sink, then looked at the kitchen clock again with a bit of alarm. Frowning, he trudged back down the hallway, only to find that Reno was still occupying the bathroom. Sighing, Rude's fist pounded upon the door again. "RENO!" he shouted angrily.

"_I said in a minute_!" Reno shouted back, sounding every bit like a petulant teenager. His face bore a panicked expression as he peered into the mirror, pulling his hair back into a ponytail, then carefully arranging each spike to fluff out around his head for what he hoped was a cool and disheveled look.

"But not _too_ disheveled," Reno murmured to his reflection, now setting to work on the buttons of his shirt. He glared as the door swung open, Rude glaring right back at him rather angrily.

"What the hell, Rude?" Reno demanded, buttoning the second-to-the-top button on his shirt, then - deciding better of it, he unbuttoned it. And then one more, for good measure. Reno smirked at his reflection, apparently pleased with the result, pulling the lapels of his shirt open further to reveal just a bit more of his chest. Rude barreled his way into the bathroom, shoving Reno out.

"What is that smell?" Rude asked, sniffing the air. Reno looked positively indignant as he replied.

"It's cologne," Reno replied.

"There better be hot water left," Rude muttered. "The hell you take so long for, anwyay? Preening like a damned bird..."

"Maybe I just want to look nice, _okay_?" Reno retorted. "And smell nice, too," he added, sniffing underneath his armpits as if to accentuate his point.

Rude shook his head as he shoved Reno out into the hallway and shut the door. "Whatever. We're only going to work. I'll be out in five."

Reno grinned, giving the closed door a mock salute as he stood out in the hallway. "Right on, partner. I'll be waiting out here!" His belt was hanging loosely around the waist of his pants, still unbuckled. Reno worked it through the rest of his belt loops, buckling it, letting the off-white button-up shirt hang loosely over his pants.

Reno returned to his bedroom, standing in front of the full-length mirror. He quickly gathered the ends of his shirt and tucked it into his trousers, and scowled at his reflection. "No...looks too goofy," he muttered. He pulled the shirttails back out and left them hanging out, as they had been, giving his reflection an exasperated sigh.

"Can't look like I'm trying _too_ hard," Reno muttered, piecing out several spikes of hair around his face, arranging one just so to fall over the center of his forehead. He unbuttoned yet another button on his uniform shirt and stood sideways, observing carefully how the fabric fell open, exposing a swath of pale chest. Reno smiled at his reflection, and blew himself a kiss, laughing. "Perfect. You'll have him eating out of your hand, yo - "

"Reno? Who are you talking to?" Rude interrupted Reno's reverie, at which the Turk spun around nervously.

"Ah...nothing, Rude," Reno replied sheepishly. "So, let's get on to work, yeah?"

"We have a lot to do today," Rude reminded him. "Remember, you need to get Strife over to Healin, and try to convince him to join us."

"Oh, really...is that today?" Reno said in as casual a tone as he could muster, playing dumb. Rude snorted, shaking his head as they got into the black sedan.

"You _know_ it's today," Rude replied. "Quit playing around, Reno. I swear...the way you've been primping all day, it's like you're trying to look all pretty for Strife." He chuckled as he put the car into gear, glancing carefully at his partner from underneath the dark sunglasses.

"Am not!" Reno protested, albeit weakly. His partner knew him too well sometimes, and though Reno had thought he'd been subtle about the crush he had on the Hero of the Planet, Rude was able to see through the ruse, and protestations.

"Listen, Rude...Cloud ain't answering his cell phone. Again," Reno added irritably as he put away his own cell phone. Yet another call to Cloud had gone directly into his voice mail, just like all the other times he'd tried to phone him. "I'll track him down, though, don't worry. Maybe Tifa can get a hold of him."

"I doubt that," Rude replied dubiously. "Last time I stopped into Seventh Heaven, Tifa said she hadn't seen or talked to him in weeks."

"Still, maybe she can call him for me," Reno argued. "I know when he sees my number come up on his cell, it's likely he ain't gonna answer. But if Tifa called him..."

"Well, it's worth a shot," Rude reluctantly agreed as they reached the new Shinra Headquarters, pulling into the parking garage. Gone was the gargantuan tower of old Midgar; the new building in post-Meteorfall Edge was to be about half the size, which would still make it over thirty stories tall. Reno slid over to the driver's seat after Rude got out of the vehicle, and he gave his partner a half-cocked salute, grinning from behind the wheel.

"Yo, I'll get Cloud there, don't worry," Reno tried to assure Rude. "Take care of the president, and meet me later, at Healin."

Rude nodded. "All right," he replied, highly doubtful that there was anything Reno could say to convince Cloud to help Rufus. If anything, one wrong word, and Reno would piss off the swordsman, and they'd be back to square one.

"Have a little faith, partner!" Reno crowed, seeing the doubt lining Rude's face. "This is _me_ we're talking about. I don't take no for an answer, ya know."

_That's what I'm afraid of_, Rude thought, shaking his head. _You and Strife are like oil and water._ "Good luck, Reno."


End file.
